37400 Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 133 / Thursday, July 15, 2021 / Notices 

1These criteria may be found in APPENDIX A TO 

PART 391—MEDICAL ADVISORY CRITERIA, 

section H. Epilepsy: § 391.41(b)(8), paragraphs 3, 4, 

and 5, which is available on the internet at https:// 

www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CFR-2015-title49-vol5/pdf/ 

CFR-2015-title49-vol5-part391-appA.pdf. 

B. Privacy Act 

In accordance with 5 U.S.C. 553(c), 

DOT solicits comments from the public 

to better inform its rulemaking process. 

DOT posts these comments, without 

edit, including any personal information 

the commenter provides, to 

www.regulations.gov, as described in 

the system of records notice (DOT/ALL– 

14 FDMS), which can be reviewed at 

www.transportation.gov/privacy. 

II. Background 

On May 26, 2021, FMCSA published 

a notice announcing receipt of 

applications from three individuals 

requesting an exemption from the 

epilepsy and seizure disorders 

prohibition in 49 CFR 391.41(b)(8) and 

requested comments from the public (86 

FR 28432). The public comment period 

ended on June 25, 2021, and no 

comments were received. 

FMCSA has evaluated the eligibility 

of these applicants and determined that 

granting exemptions to these 

individuals would achieve a level of 

safety equivalent to, or greater than, the 

level that would be achieved by 

complying with § 391.41(b)(8). 

The physical qualification standard 

for drivers regarding epilepsy found in 

§ 391.41(b)(8) states that a person is 

physically qualified to drive a CMV if 

that person has no established medical 

history or clinical diagnosis of epilepsy 

or any other condition which is likely 

to cause the loss of consciousness or any 

loss of ability to control a CMV. 

In addition to the regulations, FMCSA 

has published advisory criteria 1 to 

assist medical examiners (MEs) in 

determining whether drivers with 

certain medical conditions are qualified 

to operate a CMV in interstate 

commerce. 

III. Discussion of Comments 

FMCSA received no comments in this 

proceeding. 

IV. Basis for Exemption Determination 

Under 49 U.S.C. 31136(e) and 

31315(b), FMCSA may grant an 

exemption from the FMCSRs for no 

longer than a 5-year period if it finds 

such exemption would likely achieve a 

level of safety that is equivalent to, or 

greater than, the level that would be 

achieved absent such exemption. The 

statute also allows the Agency to renew 

exemptions at the end of the 5-year 

period. FMCSA grants medical 

exemptions from the FMCSRs for a 2- 

year period to align with the maximum 

duration of a driver’s medical 

certification. 

The Agency’s decision regarding these 

exemption applications is based on the 

2007 recommendations of the Agency’s 

Medical Expert Panel. The Agency 

conducted an individualized assessment 

of each applicant’s medical information, 

including the root cause of the 

respective seizure(s) and medical 

information about the applicant’s 

seizure history, the length of time that 

has elapsed since the individual’s last 

seizure, the stability of each individual’s 

treatment regimen and the duration of 

time on or off of anti-seizure 

medication. In addition, the Agency 

reviewed the treating clinician’s 

medical opinion related to the ability of 

the driver to safely operate a CMV with 

a history of seizure and each applicant’s 

driving record found in the Commercial 

Driver’s License Information System for 

commercial driver’s license (CDL) 

holders, and interstate and intrastate 

inspections recorded in the Motor 

Carrier Management Information 

System. For non-CDL holders, the 

Agency reviewed the driving records 

from the State Driver’s Licensing 

Agency. A summary of each applicant’s 

seizure history was discussed in the 

May 26, 2021, Federal Register notice 

(86 FR 28432) and will not be repeated 

in this notice. 

These three applicants have been 

seizure-free over a range of 17 years 

while taking anti-seizure medication 

and maintained a stable medication 

treatment regimen for the last 2 years. In 

each case, the applicant’s treating 

physician verified his or her seizure 

history and supports the ability to drive 

commercially. 

The Agency acknowledges the 

potential consequences of a driver 

experiencing a seizure while operating a 

CMV. However, the Agency believes the 

drivers granted this exemption have 

demonstrated that they are unlikely to 

have a seizure and their medical 

condition does not pose a risk to public 

safety. 

Consequently, FMCSA finds that in 

each case exempting these applicants 

from the epilepsy and seizure disorder 

prohibition in § 391.41(b)(8) is likely to 

achieve a level of safety equal to that 

existing without the exemption. 

V. Conditions and Requirements 

The terms and conditions of the 

exemption are provided to the 

applicants in the exemption document 

and includes the following: (1) Each 

driver must remain seizure-free and 

maintain a stable treatment during the 

2-year exemption period; (2) each driver 

must submit annual reports from their 

treating physicians attesting to the 

stability of treatment and that the driver 

has remained seizure-free; (3) each 

driver must undergo an annual medical 

examination by a certified ME, as 

defined by § 390.5; and (4) each driver 

must provide a copy of the annual 

medical certification to the employer for 

retention in the driver’s qualification 

file, or keep a copy of his/her driver’s 

qualification file if he/she is selfemployed. The driver must also have a 

copy of the exemption when driving, for 

presentation to a duly authorized 

Federal, State, or local enforcement 

official. 

VI. Preemption 

During the period the exemption is in 

effect, no State shall enforce any law or 

regulation that conflicts with this 

exemption with respect to a person 

operating under the exemption. 

VII. Conclusion 

Based upon its evaluation of the three 

exemption applications, FMCSA 

exempts the following drivers from the 

epilepsy and seizure disorder 

prohibition, § 391.41(b)(8), subject to the 

requirements cited above: 

Angela Camarco (CT); Wesley Campbell 

(CA); and Thomas Frederick (PA) 

In accordance with 49 U.S.C. 

31315(b), each exemption will be valid 

for 2 years from the effective date unless 

revoked earlier by FMCSA. The 

exemption will be revoked if the 

following occurs: (1) The person fails to 

comply with the terms and conditions 

of the exemption; (2) the exemption has 

resulted in a lower level of safety than 

was maintained prior to being granted; 

or (3) continuation of the exemption 

would not be consistent with the goals 

and objectives of 49 U.S.C. 31136(e) and 

31315(b). 

Larry W. Minor, 

Associate Administrator for Policy. 

[FR Doc. 2021–15050 Filed 7–14–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–EX–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Transit Administration 

[FTA Docket No. FTA 2021–0011] 

Request for Information on Transit 

Safety Concerns 

AGENCY: Federal Transit Administration, 

Department of Transportation (DOT). 

ACTION: Request for information. 


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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 133 / Thursday, July 15, 2021 / Notices 37401 

SUMMARY: The Federal Transit 

Administration (FTA) is responsible for 

administering a Public Transportation 

Safety Program (Safety Program) to 

improve the safety performance of the 

Nation’s transit systems. FTA adopted 

the principles and methods of Safety 

Management System (SMS) as the 

foundation of the Safety Program. FTA 

uses SMS processes and activities to 

proactively identify and address safety 

risk at the industry level. Through this 

Request for Information (RFI), FTA 

solicits input from the public regarding 

information and data to identify transit 

safety concerns that FTA should 

evaluate for potential action at the 

Federal level. 

DATES: Comments are requested by 

August 16, 2021. 

ADDRESSES: You may file comments 

identified by docket number FTA– 

2021–0011 by any of the following 

methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to 

https://www.regulations.gov and follow 

the online instructions for submitting 

comments. 

• Mail: Docket Management Facility, 

U.S. Department of Transportation, 1200 

New Jersey Ave. SE, West Building 

Ground Floor, Room W12–140, 

Washington, DC 20590–0001. 

• Hand Delivery or Courier: West 

Building Ground Floor, Room W12–140, 

1200 New Jersey Ave. SE, between 9:00 

a.m. and 5:00 p.m. ET, Monday through 

Friday, except Federal holidays. 

• Fax: (202) 493–2251. 

Instructions: For detailed instructions 

on submitting comments, see the Public 

Participation heading of the 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of 

this document. Note that all comments 

received will be posted without change 

to http://www.regulations.gov, including 

any personal information provided. 

Privacy Act: Except as provided 

below, all comments received into the 

docket will be made public in their 

entirety. The comments will be 

searchable by the name of the 

individual submitting the comment (or 

signing the comment, if submitted on 

behalf of an association, business, labor 

union, etc.). You should not include 

information in your comment that you 

do not want to be made public. You may 

review DOT’s complete Privacy Act 

Statement in the Federal Register 

published on April 11, 2000 (65 FR 

19477–78) or at https://

www.transportation.gov/privacy. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ray 

Biggs, Office of Transit Safety and 

Oversight—Safety Risk Management 

and Assurance Division, 1200 New 

Jersey Avenue SE, Mail Stop TSO–10, 

Washington, DC 20590, (202) 366–7460 

or Ray.Biggs@dot.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Through 

this RFI, FTA is seeking information 

and data from the public on safety 

concerns and issues recommended for 

additional assessment and potential 

action at the Federal level. 

In August 2016, FTA published the 

Public Transportation Safety Program 

regulation, 49 CFR part 670, which 

establishes substantive and procedural 

rules for FTA’s administration of the 

program to carry out the mandate of 49 

U.S.C. 5329 to improve the safety of 

transit systems. In Part 670, FTA 

adopted the principles and methods of 

SMS and clarified that FTA will follow 

these principles and methods in its 

development of rules, regulations, 

policies, guidance, best practices, and 

technical assistance administered under 

the authority of 49 U.S.C. 5329. 

In July 2018, FTA furthered the 

advancement of SMS in the transit 

industry by publishing the Public 

Transportation Agency Safety Plan 

regulation, 49 CFR part 673 (Part 673). 

Part 673 requires certain transit agencies 

to adopt SMS principles and methods; 

develop, certify, implement, and update 

Agency Safety Plans (ASPs); and 

coordinate ASP elements with other 

FTA programs and rules, as specified in 

49 U.S.C. 5303, 5304, and 5329. In 

carrying out Part 673 requirements, 

transit agencies identify safety hazards 

and mitigate safety risks within their 

transit system through the 

implementation of ASPs and SMS 

processes and activities. 

FTA expanded its safety oversight 

capabilities by establishing an internal 

SMS approach for identifying transit 

safety hazards and mitigating safety 

risks. In 2019, FTA implemented its 

Safety Risk Management (SRM) process 

to proactively address safety concerns 

impacting the transit industry. The SRM 

process follows a five-step continuous 

improvement approach: (1) Identify 

safety concerns; (2) assess safety risk; (3) 

develop mitigation; (4) implement 

mitigation; and (5) monitor safety 

performance. Appropriate mitigations 

advanced by FTA to resolve safety risk 

may include new proposed safety 

regulations, general or special 

directives, and safety advisories, as well 

as a range of technical assistance and 

training activities; enhanced data 

collection; or recommendations for 

further investigation, evaluation, or 

examination. 

FTA utilizes its SRM process to 

address safety topics identified in FTA’s 

SRM Action Plan. The FTA SRM Action 

Plan is informed by a review of National 

Transportation Safety Board and Transit 

Advisory Committee for Safety 

recommendations to FTA, data from the 

National Transit Database, and 

additional industry sources as 

appropriate. FTA is currently analyzing 

four safety concerns utilizing its SRM 

process: Inward- and outward-facing 

audio and image recorders, roadway 

worker protection, signal system safety, 

and end-of-railcar door messaging. 

FTA is developing the next SRM 

Action Plan to prioritize safety concerns 

for future SRM analyses. The transit 

industry’s input is critically important 

in identifying and proactively mitigating 

safety concerns impacting the larger 

transit community. As such, FTA 

requests information from the public on 

safety concerns that the industry 

believes should be considered for 

inclusion in FTA’s next SRM Action 

Plan. 

Respondents to this RFI may respond 

to any question and do not need to 

respond to all questions. This RFI offers 

transit industry personnel, researchers, 

contractors, government entities, transit 

users, and other interested parties the 

opportunity to inform FTA’s next SRM 

Action Plan. 

Questions to the Public 

FTA seeks to gather information and 

discover valid and reliable aggregate 

data to support the identification and 

evaluation of safety concerns at the 

Federal level. The following list of 

questions and topic areas are intended 

to guide respondents in this effort: 

Safety Concerns 

(1) What transit safety concerns 

should FTA consider analyzing through 

its SRM process for small transit 

providers? Large transit providers? Rail, 

bus, and multimodal transit providers? 

Briefly describe why each identified 

safety concern should be considered, 

including any data-based evidence that 

may be available. 

(2) Are there any new or emerging 

safety concerns that may not yet appear 

in industry data (either through nearmisses or not meeting reporting 

thresholds, for example) that should be 

analyzed by FTA to proactively mitigate 

future impacts? 

Sources of Information and Data 

(3) Are there additional sources of 

information and data, beyond those 

detailed in this request, that may help 

inform FTA’s identification of highpriority safety concerns for the SRM 

process and potential action at the 

Federal level? 

(4) Are there additional sources of 

information and data, beyond those 


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37402 Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 133 / Thursday, July 15, 2021 / Notices 

detailed in this request, that FTA should 

consider in supporting the assessment 

and mitigation of identified transit 

safety risks? 

(5) Should data sources outside of 

those maintained by transit agencies 

and FTA, such as geographic or 

demographic data, be considered to 

support the identification of safety 

concerns and assessment and mitigation 

of safety risk? If so, which data sources, 

and why? 

Examples 

(6) What are examples of safety 

concerns evaluated by a transit agency 

that can be shared with FTA? 

(7) What are examples of high-impact 

data that support the identification of 

safety concerns and hazards and the 

corresponding safety risk assessment 

and mitigation that can be shared with 

FTA? 

(8) Is there anything else FTA should 

know regarding the identification of 

safety concerns for the SRM process? 

Please clearly indicate which 

question(s) you address in your 

response and any evidence to support 

assertions, where practicable. 

Public Participation 

How do I prepare and submit 

comments? 

To ensure that your comments are 

filed correctly, please include the 

docket number provided [FTA–2021– 

0011] in your comments. 

Please submit one copy of your 

comments, including any attachments, 

to the docket following the instructions 

given above under ADDRESSES. Please 

note, if you are submitting comments 

electronically as a PDF (Adobe) file, 

these documents must be scanned using 

an Optical Character Recognition 

process, thus allowing the Agency to 

search and copy certain portions of 

submissions. 

Will FTA consider late comments? 

FTA will consider all comments 

received before the close of business on 

the comment closing date indicated 

above under DATES. To the extent 

practicable, the Agency will also 

consider comments received after that 

date. 

How can comments submitted by other 

people be read? 

Comments received may be read at 

the Docket Management Facility, U.S. 

Department of Transportation, 1200 

New Jersey Ave. SE, West Building 

Ground Floor, Room W12–140, 

Washington, DC 20590–0001. The hours 

of the docket are indicated above in the 

same location. Comments may also be 

located on the internet, identified by the 

docket number at the heading of this 

notice, at http://www.regulations.gov. 

Please note, this RFI will serve as a 

planning document. The RFI should not 

be construed as policy, a solicitation for 

applications, or an obligation on the 

part of the Government. 

Nuria I. Fernandez, 

Administrator. 

[FR Doc. 2021–15078 Filed 7–14–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4910–57–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Transit Administration 

Request for Information Concerning 

the Capital Investment Grants Program 

AGENCY: Federal Transit Administration 

(FTA), Department of Transportation 

(DOT). 

ACTION: Request for Information. 

SUMMARY: The Federal Transit 

Administration is seeking suggestions 

from all transit stakeholders (transit 

authorities, planning officials, States, 

cities, the private sector, and the public) 

on improvements that could be made to 

the evaluation process for projects 

seeking funding from the Capital 

Investment Grants (CIG) Program. 

Specifically, FTA seeks input on 

evaluation measures and data sources 

that can better capture the benefits and 

costs of transit and how the CIG 

program can facilitate outcomes that 

maximize those benefits. 

DATES: Comments should be submitted 

on or before October 13, 2021. FTA will 

consider comments filed after this date 

to the extent practicable. 

ADDRESSES: All responses MUST be 

submitted electronically to Docket No. 

FTA–2021–0010 at http://

www.regulations.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Elizabeth Day, Director, Office of Capital 

Project Development, (202) 366–5159, or 

Elizabeth.Day@dot.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background: To receive discretionary 

Capital Investment Grants (CIG) 

program funding from the Federal 

Transit Administration (FTA), an 

applicant must complete the multi-year, 

multi-step process outlined in law at 49 

U.S.C. 5309 for the proposed transit 

capital project. The law specifies 

evaluation criteria covering project 

justification and local financial 

commitment that FTA must use to 

develop a project rating on a five-point 

scale from low to high. It also specifies 

that a project must receive a Medium or 

better overall rating to advance through 

the process and receive CIG program 

funding. The law establishes three 

categories of projects eligible under the 

CIG program, which are known as New 

Starts, Small Starts, and Core Capacity 

Improvement projects. Each project type 

has a unique set of requirements and 

evaluation criteria in law, although 

many similarities exist among them. 

For New Starts and Core Capacity 

Improvement projects, the steps in the 

CIG process include project 

development, engineering, and 

construction. The CIG process for Small 

Starts projects includes only project 

development and construction. New 

Starts and Core Capacity Improvement 

projects receive construction funds from 

the CIG program through a full funding 

grant agreement (FFGA) that defines the 

scope of the project and specifies the 

total multi-year Federal commitment to 

the project. Small Starts projects receive 

construction funds through a single-year 

grant or a Small Starts grant agreement 

(SSGA) that defines the scope of the 

project and specifies the Federal 

commitment to the project. 

There are six statutory project 

justification criteria that FTA must 

evaluate and rate individually for 

projects pursuing CIG funding that 

differ slightly between the three 

categories of projects. The law requires 

each project justification criterion to be 

given a ‘‘comparable, but not necessarily 

equal, numerical weight’’ when FTA 

develops a summary project justification 

rating. The law also requires FTA to 

evaluate local financial commitment. 

For New Starts and Core Capacity, the 

law requires FTA to determine whether: 

(A) The proposed financial plan 

provides for the availability of 

reasonable contingency to cover 

unanticipated cost increases or funding 

shortfalls; (B) each proposed local 

source of capital and operating 

financing is stable, reliable, and 

available within the proposed project 

timetable; and (C) local resources are 

available to recapitalize, maintain, and 

operate the overall existing and 

proposed public transportation system, 

including essential feeder bus and other 

services necessary to achieve the 

projected ridership levels, without 

requiring a reduction in existing public 

transportation services or level of 

service to operate the proposed project. 

For Small Starts projects the law 

requires FTA to determine that, ‘‘each 

proposed local source of capital and 

operating financing is stable, reliable, 

and available within the proposed 

project timetable.’’ 

Lastly, the law requires FTA to issue 

policy guidance on the CIG review and 


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